(BLOG) China Once Gave Refuge To Jews Fleeing Nazis

"Even in China, it’s all Hebrew to me.

It was all Chinese to me; really, well with a touch of Hebrew, and that’s because I was standing in what was once a Jewish ghetto, in Shanghai, China.

Shanghai, a modern metropolis, is significantly different than when it was a city of refuge for Jews escaping World War II. A city under nonstop construction, where low buildings give way to skyscrapers, it’s a conundrum; pricy hotels are around the corner from housing communities with no bathrooms or kitchens. The energy is infectious, and while China is a communist country, capitalism flows from every direction, from Shanghai Tang to TGI Fridays; there is no escaping a myriad of places to spend money, even the markets are overflowing with pearls, jade and silk."